Popular content

According to the Washington County School District officials, two juveniles and an 18-year-old student were arrested and charged with terroristic threatening, second degree, pending further investigation after allegedly talking about a shooting threat.

Springfield Police Chief Jim Smith said the two juveniles, both 17 years old, were arrested after discussing the threats at Washington County High School. A third suspect, Orion Keistan Hash, 18, was arrested Friday on the same charge and lodged in the Marion County Detention Center.

In the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last month that left 17 dead and others wounded, a renewed urgency has been sparked in public safety. While the most commonly discussed issue has been school security, churches have begun taking a more serious look at what they need to do to prevent them from being vulnerable targets for violence.

The county is doing all it can to squeeze every bit of life out of its vehicles because much of its fleet is aging.

“We only have four trucks that are less than 10 years old,” Washington County Judge-Executive John Settles said. “We’ve got five that were bought before the year 2000. When you look at a list, it makes you realize how many you got, but there’s so many uses.”